CHARLES SALE: FC United rebels smell a rat over Manchester City stadium deal

07 March 2011 23:35
There is concern at Glazer-protest club FC United of Manchester about the city council blocking their plans for a new ground yet agreeing a joint venture with the world's richest team in the same area. [LNB]The fans-owned FC United, formed after the Glazer family bought Manchester United, secured permission for a ?3.5million, 5,000-seater community stadium on the Ten Acres Lane site before the council withdrew their crucial ?650,000 funding and lease approval. [LNB]Yet documents published in the same week outline a 10-year strategy in which Manchester City and the council, who receive ?3m-a-year rent from the football club, will work together to regenerate the land around Eastlands - including Ten Acres Lane. [LNB] On the move? FC United have plans to move to their own ground in Manchester[LNB]A City spokesman said: 'We have some say in how the council spends our rental income, but that has nothing to do with the decision on FC United's proposed ground. [LNB]That was down to the council, who have had to make huge budget cuts across the board.' FC United general manager Andy Walsh said: 'Our fans have suspicions about the council project with City coming so soon after our rejection. But we have been assured that the council will help us and are examining other sites.' [LNB]He's in fashion: David Beckham [LNB]Marks & Spencer are keen to continue as the official suit suppliers to the England team, with the David Beckham effect making up for the country's dismal showing at the World Cup. [LNB]M&S had no complaints when a pre-tournament injury kept Beckham in the dug-out because it meant the fashion icon was on camera in their gear far more often than expected. [LNB]The British Paralympic Association intend to advertise this week for a chief executive to succeed Phil Lane. [LNB]   More from Charles Sale... Charles Sale: Gray rings up ?250k phone hacking bill27/02/11 Sir Alex Ferguson's fine decision held up by the BBC's move north to Manchester 25/02/11 Charles Sale: Cash-strapped FA in ?4,000 Ivy restaurant bash24/02/11 Charles Sale: Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand among the stars caught up in a wealth of legal wrangling23/02/11 Charles Sale: Olympic pool has turned out 'ugly', slams departed Olympic chief22/02/11 Charles Sale: FA bigwig Taylor trashes FA Cup revamp plan21/02/11 Charles Sale: FA can't afford a Cup half empty18/02/11 Charles Sale: FIFA double dealer haunts England18/02/11 VIEW FULL ARCHIVE  But this publicity is in marked contrast to the disturbing lack of transparency about the real reason why highly-rated Lane left just over a year before the London 2012 Paralympics, at which he was due to be the key figure as chef de mission of the British team. [LNB]Differences with BPA chairman Tim Reddish are understood to have been a factor. A BPA spokesperson said Lane had wanted to take up new sporting challenges. [LNB]Such is the crazy world of Premier League football that doing a kiss 'n' tell on Ashley Cole seems to have been a good career move for Vicki Gough, who went public about her liaisons with the Chelsea defender in team hotel rooms in Lincolnshire and Birmingham. [LNB]Gough, having worked in secretarial positions at Birmingham City and Liverpool, is now the assistant club secretary at West Ham. [LNB]FA's Ghana mystery Colourful sports agent Ambrose Mendy, who made his name as an arch exponent of boxing hype, is a consultant for the Ghana team who play England at Wembley on March 29. [LNB]Nevertheless, claims of a potential reciprocal game against England in Accra come as a surprise to the FA, who have no plans for a match in Africa. [LNB]Lawyer Mel Goldberg, who represents the Ghanaians, believes England's 2018 World Cup bid would have attracted more African support if the Wembley match had not taken 18 months to organise. [LNB]FIFA's high command, whom London mayor Boris Johnson did not want staying at the flagship Dorchester Hotel after the World Cup vote debacle, will instead be allocated the May Fair Hotel for the Olympics. [LNB]However, the accommodation is still five-star and approved by FIFA inspectors. Meanwhile, the FA want Asia's Mohamed Bin Hammam to stand against Sepp Blatter for the FIFA presidency. [LNB]England's try-scoring winger Chris Ashton is the latest player in Martin Johnson's team to be negotiating a book deal. [LNB]He is close to signing a two-book contract for a 2011 diary taking in the Six Nations and World Cup with a full-blown autobiography later. [LNB] One for the book: Ashton looks set to put to pen to paper on a diary of 2011[LNB]Captain Lewis Moody will publish his life story after the World Cup in New Zealand, for which sports book publishers are banking on England more than they did on the 2010 football version. [LNB]  Explore more:People: Boris Johnson, Sepp Blatter, Martin Johnson, Lewis Moody Places: Liverpool, Manchester, Lincolnshire, London, Birmingham, New Zealand, Ghana, United Kingdom, Africa, Asia

Source: Daily_Mail